Muschamp on Brandon McIlwain: '1 Man's Misfortune Is Another Man's Opportunity'

Will Muschamp entered his first spring practice session as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks with a quarterback logjam thick enough to stall traffic on I-126.

Connor Mitch, Perry Orth and Lorenzo Nunez were all back after starting games for former head coach Steve Spurrier and interim head coach Shawn Elliott a year ago, and they were joined by redshirt sophomore Michael Scarnecchia and true freshman early enrollee and former 4-star prospect Brandon McIlwain.

By the end of spring, Muschamp was down from five quarterbacks to three, with the most inexperienced of the bunch gaining a leg up on the rest of the competition. 

With Orth out with a collarbone injury and Nunez nursing a knee issue, McIlwain thrived under center. It culminated in the spring game, where he completed 19 of his 26 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, while adding a couple of impressive runs including an 18-yarder.

"One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity," Muschamp told Bleacher Report. "He took advantage of the opportunity, and he took advantage of the reps and did an outstanding job."

Ryan Bethea / 247Sports

McIlwain was a 4-star dual-threat prospect from Newtown, Pennsylvania, who passed up what could have been first-round Major League Baseball draft money this year to give both sports a shot in Columbia. From the midway point of his first spring practice session—even when Orth was healthy—it was clear that Orth and McIlwain were the top two options for Muschamp and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper.

"He progressed and matured through spring," Muschamp said. "He's got a confidence about himself, and it needs to continue to grow and develop."

Part of that growth will be accelerated by the offense's clean slate—thanks to the presence of a new staff—and the inexperience of the wide receivers.

South Carolina lost star wideout Pharoh Cooper last year after he caught 66 passes in a very disjointed offense. Gone too are tight end Jerell Adams and running back Brandon Wilds—the three top receivers from the 2015 Gamecocks. 

Deebo Samuel, a 6'0", 205-pound rising sophomore is the most polished receiver on the roster, but he's still learning the ropes after catching 12 passes as a freshman.

"I think he's a talented guy, but he hasn't done it consistently in our league," Muschamp said. "We don't have another receiver that has. I think we have four other [total] starts at the position."

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

While Samuel doesn't have the snaps at wide receiver to help McIlwain ease into a more prominent role at quarterback, the true freshman QB does get to grow with a fellow early enrollee who might fix that in a hurry.

Bryan Edwards, a 6'3", 205-pounder from Conway, South Carolina, has already elevated himself to the top spot on the depth chart at one of the wide receiver spots, and he has the chance to grow with McIlwain this offseason so the two can hit the ground running in the fall.

"Bryan's got a big upside," Muschamp said. "Bryan hurt his knee coming out of high school. He's a guy who built more strength in his knee and had more confidence in his abilities in the latter part of spring because he got more strength in his knee.

"He's a guy who can high-point the ball. He's got really good ball skills and runs good routes. He's very intelligent. How quickly is he going to continue to come on? I'll let you know in Game 4, 5, 6 and 7 where he is. He's a mature young man, and playing as a freshman has more to do with maturity than anything else."

Ryan Bethea / 247Sports

McIlwain is stepping into a perfect situation for a freshman quarterback to take the reigns.

Coming off of a tumultuous 3-9 season in which Spurrier walked away midseason, the pressure to win the SEC East that existed two offseasons ago is a distant memory, the youth and inexperience on the roster is as clear as day and the presence of a new staff provides a grace period that Muschamp and McIlwain can take advantage of.

The 6'0", 206-pounder still must beat out Orth this summer, and the two months prior to fall camp when the quarterbacks organize "optional" offseason workouts will go a long way toward keeping his post-spring momentum going in the right direction.

"He's got to continue to grow and develop with his off-the-field football, film study and all of the things that go with being the quarterback at South Carolina or any SEC team," Muschamp said. "That goes into film study of how other teams are going to play us, what we're doing schematically and all of those things that make a good quarterback.

"That's what he's working on right now."

If he keeps it up, McIlwain should be working with the first-team offense this fall.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.